1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of photography and, more specifically, to automatic photostudios including film cassette changing apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automatic, coin operated photostudios -- or "photographic vending machines" -- which are actuable by a user for taking self-portraits are well known in the prior art. Generally, these photostudios include a housing that is divided into a studio compartment where the user sits to be photographed and an adjoining apparatus compartment housing a portrait camera and associated film handling and processing equipment.
Upon actuating the photostudio, usually by inserting a coin, bill or token into a receiving mechanism or by other means such as actuating an electrical switch, the camera operates to photograph the user sitting in the studio compartment and then the exposed film unit is automatically processed and delivered to the user, via a delivery chute or slot, in a relatively short period of time.
The present invention relates to automatic photostudios which utilize self-developing film units supplied in film holding cassettes and include cassette changing apparatus for moving such cassettes into and out of operative relation with the camera.
Generally, such cassette changing apparatus include means for holding a supply of film cassettes and transfer means for moving a cassette from the supply into a camera cassette receiving receptacle, removing the cassette from the receptacle after the film units therein are expended, and replacing the removed empty cassette with a full cassette.
Of particular interest are the cassette changing apparatus wherein the means for holding a supply of cassettes include one or more vertically disposed gravity feed magazines configured to hold a stack of cassettes therein and the transfer means are configured to move the cassettes from the bottom of the stack laterally to a position beneath an open bottom camera receptacle and then up into the receptacle for locating the cassette in operative relation with the camera.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,744,389 and 3,744,390 issued on July 10, 1973 to Charles W. Clark and U.S. Pat. No. 3,797,823 issued to Charles W. Clark on Mar. 19, 1974 disclose an automatic photobooth in which two vertically disposed cassette holding magazines are located adjacent one side of open bottom cassette receiving receptacle of the camera.
In operation, the cassettes are dispensed sequentially from the magazine furthest from the camera by a reciprocating mechanism and form a horizontally disposed train of cassettes extending from the bottom of the magazine to an aligned position on a cassette carrier or elevator beneath the camera receptacle. During each successive cassette changing cycle the train of cassettes is advanced forwardly one cassette position by the reciprocating mechanism. The cassette adjacent the elevator pushes the empty cassette off the elevator and takes its place for movement into the camera when the elevator is moved upwardly. The cassettes behind this cassette are moved up one position and another cassette is dispensed from the magazine to the last position in the train. After all of the cassettes in the furthest magazine have been dispensed, a dummy cassette is utilized to modify the operation of the transfer mechanism such that cassettes are dispensed from the second magazine, i.e., the magazine closest to the camera.
It will be noted that the cassettes that have been dispensed from the magazine to the horizontal train play an active part in the transfer operation by pushing the cassette ahead of it during portions of the transfer operation.
Another example of an automatic photostudio which includes such a cassette changing apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,136 issued to C. Bruce Kennedy on June 25, 1974, and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
In this system, the cassettes are held in a single vertically disposed magazine located to one side of the camera. The lowermost cassette in the stack rests on a horizontal guide plate which extends to a spring loaded tilting bed cassette carrier normally located in closing relation to the open bottom of the camera receptacle. When the film units in a cassette located in the receptacle have been expended, a solenoid is energized and pulls down on the bed causing it to tilt away from the receptacle opening thereby allowing the empty cassette to slide off of the bed for disposal. The solenoid is then deenergized causing the spring to return the bed to its normal position. A reciprocating mechanism then pushes the lowermost cassette in the stack from the magazine toward the cassette carrier bed. The cassette engages the bed and forces it down against the bias of the spring into a position wherein the cassette can enter the open bottom of the camera receptacle. The bed then moves upwardly under the spring bias to its normal position holding the cassette in its operative position within the receptacle. When the reciprocating mechanism returns to its starting position, all of the remaining cassettes in the magazine move down one position under the influence of gravity.
Again, the cassette plays an active part in the transfer operation in that it is utilized to force the carrier bed down from its normal position against the biasing force of the spring to gain entry into the camera cassette receiving receptacle.
The automatic photostudios are intended to be serviced at rather infrequent intervals and therefore it is important that the operating mechanisms, including the cassette changing apparatus, be as reliable as possible without making them too complex and therefore expensive to manufacture. The above-noted cassette changing apparatus both use the film cassettes to perform active functions connected with cassette transfer. In one case the cassettes are used to push preceding cassettes in the horizontal train towards the cassette carrier or elevator and displace an empty cassette therefrom. In the other apparatus, the cassette is used to force the carrier bed into a cassette receiving position against the biasing force of the carrier spring. Thus, the reliability of the cassette changing mechanism is to a certain extent dependent upon the cassettes being uniformly manufactured without taking into account possible manufacturing variances and minor dimensional changes that may be incorporated into the cassette at a later date.
For examples of other automatic photobooths that use self-developing film units, reference may be had to U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,760 and 3,852,783 wherein the film units are held in a single large capacity cassette and copending application Ser. No. 679,053 filed on Apr. 21, 1976 now abandoned which discloses a cassette changing apparatus wherein the cassettes are held in individual trays on an indexing conveyor rather than in gravity feed magazines.